There’s nothing new under the sun, a biblical point recorded in Ecclesiastes 1:9, was emphasized Sept. 15 by Bishop William J. Barber II in a broadcast across social platforms. The date carried special weight: it was not only a regularly scheduled Moral Monday but also the 62nd anniversary of the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing in Birmingham, Alabama, that killed four girls — Addie Collins, Denise McNair, Carole Robertson, and Cynthia Wesley — ages 11 to 14.
Moral Mondays, led by multiracial clergy and community leaders, is a sustained movement to sound the alarm against laws and policies that deny justice to the “least of these,” as the scriptures say. On this anniversary, participants tied their weekly call for justice to the memory of racial violence in Birmingham and to today’s struggles against poverty, health care cuts, and political violence.
“This Moral Monday carries special resonance in light of the political violence we are witnessing. We are gathering virtually so that as many people as possible can join us at this moment — seeking to find their way, to use their gifts to make a difference, and to speak out against unjust policies,” said Rev. Dr. Hanna Broome with Repairers of the Breach…